Is this what Netflix does to BL? Because I'm not sure I want it.
I don't know, man... Soul Mate left me feeling hollow. My viewing experience wasn't exactly improved by first eagerly awaiting the show's release and then putting off watching it, because I wasn't in the mood for depression. By the time I finally came around to bingeing it, my expectations were a smidgen too high, and I was sorely disappointed.
The plot moves at a strange pace, frantically checking off predictable traumatic plot points and hitting unearned emotional beats. Then the story grinds to an absolute halt, and there's entirely too much baby stuff. Are pro-natalists really this desperate? The straight couple has little chemistry, and of course there's the missed GL opportunity. Even at its worst, the show makes compelling choices, though: Sumiko and Seiichi's love-at-first-sight vs. let's-see-where-this-goes conversation is fun. Sumiko's hair and wardrobe turns tradwife, announcing the pregnancy before the characters do. All the familial conflicts are painfully realistic without being overly dramatic.
These compelling choices, of which I could list many more, such as the depiction of care work or the engaging way all actresses and actors play off of each other especially in platonic scenes, are why I like this series as little as I do. Why insist on showing me the potential you squandered? I'm too tired to suss out what exactly hindered the main leads the most, but I'm certainly sad because their queer-platonic intimacy isn't without merit.
Also, I thought we had moved past the talking speed of a 2016 Thai BL series? If we haven't, then can we at least stop with the flashbacks to recent scenes and without any new (visual) information? Especially the last-episode-flashback-compilations need to be laid to rest.
The plot moves at a strange pace, frantically checking off predictable traumatic plot points and hitting unearned emotional beats. Then the story grinds to an absolute halt, and there's entirely too much baby stuff. Are pro-natalists really this desperate? The straight couple has little chemistry, and of course there's the missed GL opportunity. Even at its worst, the show makes compelling choices, though: Sumiko and Seiichi's love-at-first-sight vs. let's-see-where-this-goes conversation is fun. Sumiko's hair and wardrobe turns tradwife, announcing the pregnancy before the characters do. All the familial conflicts are painfully realistic without being overly dramatic.
These compelling choices, of which I could list many more, such as the depiction of care work or the engaging way all actresses and actors play off of each other especially in platonic scenes, are why I like this series as little as I do. Why insist on showing me the potential you squandered? I'm too tired to suss out what exactly hindered the main leads the most, but I'm certainly sad because their queer-platonic intimacy isn't without merit.
Also, I thought we had moved past the talking speed of a 2016 Thai BL series? If we haven't, then can we at least stop with the flashbacks to recent scenes and without any new (visual) information? Especially the last-episode-flashback-compilations need to be laid to rest.
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